Related Articles

He is facing the prospect of winning the next general election with almost no MPs outside English constituencies. As part of a wider plan to improve his appeal across the country, he has held secret talks with the UUP in recent days to set up the ground-breaking alliance.

Under the new arrangement, Ulster Unionist MPs would take the Tory whip and be offered posts in any future government.

It would pave the way for the Conservatives to fight seats in Northern Ireland for the first time since the early days of the Troubles.

When the deal is finalised this autumn the Tories will have an extra MP at Westminster – the UUP's sole representative, Lady Sylvia Hermon.

But it is after the next election that the alliance could prove most worthwhile.

With a hung parliament a real possibility and the UUP expected to win more seats, it could hold the balance of power and enable Mr Cameron to form a government. The Conservatives – who are enjoying a substantial lead in the opinion polls – currently hold only one Scottish seat, three in Wales, and, like the other mainstream parties, none in Ulster.

Mr Cameron said that as a result of the strategy the Conservatives would be the only truly national party that represents "every corner of the United Kingdom".

The Conservative leader says in an article in The Daily Telegraph today, co-written with Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the UUP, that he wants Northern Ireland to become a "normal" part of the UK.

He says the best way to signal that is to have Northern Ireland MPs "supporting and serving in a Conservative Government".

Despite most senior Conservatives, including Mr Cameron, visiting Glasgow East ahead of the by-election, the party has no hope of registering any sort of support. But it is outside those rock-solid Labour areas, where the party should be doing better, that there continues to be cause for concern. The Conservatives have historic links with the Ulster Unionists but since the early 1970s there has been no formal link at Westminster.

However, now that the peace process has largely delivered, and the Northern Ireland Assembly is sitting, Mr Cameron believes it is wrong that people in Northern Ireland are not represented by a party that also deals with issues not covered by the devolved assembly.

He writes: "Like most others in the UK, what really worries them is social breakdown, fuel duties, the 10p tax row, excessive regulation on business, pensions and the Lisbon treaty. There is a real danger that some of Northern Ireland's politicians will continue to look inwards and become 'Ulster Nationalists'."

Both parties will discuss the remaining issues at their party conferences.

Important aspects are still to be agreed, including whether the UUP party name remains or whether it could come fully under the Conservative party banner.

That is certain to be resisted by some members of the UUP at their conference in October when the deal is expected to be concluded.